National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the largest lender by market value in the UAE, posted a 12.1 percent jump in third-quarter net profit, beating analysts forecasts as foreign exchange gains surged more than three-fold.
NBAD, majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi government, made a net profit of 1.03 billion dirhams ($280.4 mln) in the third quarter, compared with 919.75 million dirhams year-ago, a statement from the bank said on Sunday.
Net foreign exchange gains for the quarter amounted to 206.6 million dirhams, against 66.3 million dirhams a year earlier, NBAD said. Fee and commission income rose to 396.7 million dirhams compared with 384 million dirhams in the same period last year.
Analysts forecast an average profit of 996.71 million dirhams in a Reuters poll earlier this month. Net impairment charges were 321 million dirhams for the third quarter including additional collective provision of 87 million dirhams. That compared with 319.5 million dirhams for the year-ago period.
Non-performing loans increased to 4.53 billion dirhams representing 2.83 percent of the loan book. NBAD, the first Gulf bank to tap Samurai bonds, expects non-performing loans (NPLs) to spike in 2011 but sees its lending surpassing the market growth rate, its chief executive told Reuters in July.
Loans and advances continued to grow in the third quarter of 2011 by another 1.9 percent to 155.8 billion dirhams, up 13.9 percent from December 31 2010. Net profit for the nine-month period was 2.98 billion dirhams, up 1.1 percent over the same period last year. NBAD shares were halted for trading on Sunday pending announcement of results. They have gained 4 percent year-to-date.
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